Atlanta Braves vs. Arizona Diamondbacks – Box Score – April 20, 2012 – ESPN.
Another day, another blowout. I don’t see how this can keep up, so let’s enjoy it while it lasts.
Brandon Beachy was almost as dominant as Mike Minor was the day before, holding the D-Backs to four hits (all singles) and one walk, while striking out five. As usual, he wasn’t as efficient as you’d like, throwing 111 pitches, but he got to one out in the eighth, which will certainly do.
The Braves took all the way until — horrors! — the third inning to score. As usual of late, it was Freddie Freeman, who doubled home Martin Prado. In the fifth, Brian McCann homered, driving in Freeman to make it 3-0.
The sixth saw the Braves breakout for four runs. Beachy hit a fielder’s choice with one out in the inning, on which Arizona couldn’t get an out, to score Chipper Jones. Michael Bourn doubled in Tyler Pastornicky, then Prado hit a sac fly to score Beachy. Finally, Freeman doubled in Bourn to make it 7-0, two runs of which should not have scored.
Beachy faded in the eighth, leaving with two on and one out for, who else, Chad Durbin. Durbin allowed an infield single to load the bases but somehow preserved the shutout.
The Braves got four straight singles to start the ninth, from Freeman, McCann, Dan Uggla, and Chipper. Fleet-footed Juan Francisco ran for Chipper, then Jason Heywas walked to score a run. Craig Kimbrel pitched the ninth, allowing a hit and a walk that eventually produced a run. Hate to lose the shutout like that.
Who are you and what have you done with the Atlanta Braves?
I’ll take 9 runs any day. Heat check tonight when the Braves face a soft tossing lefty who loves to throw changeups in Saunders. Still, no Upton and Young for Arizona has me hopeful for 3 out of 4.
The “fielder’s choice” hit into by Beachy was actually a suicide squeeze. It was a pretty good bunt and Chipper got a great jump, so he was able to score ahead of the tag.
Chipper is still a very good baserunner. Suck it Tad!
By the way, we haven’t really noticed because Freeman has been scorching and Heyward has been doing quite well, but Michael Bourn has quietly turned into everything we hoped he’d be. Over the Braves’ last ten games, when there Braves have been 9-1, here are the stats of those three guys:
Yes, Tad, suck it with the Chipper hate.
Yep. Bourn is currently tied with Freeman for second highest fWAR on the team, behind Heyward.
I could get used to a .900 winning percentage.
@3: Wasn’t it a safety squeeze? Chipper didn’t break until after he saw the bunt was about to put the ball in a great spot.
It was a safety squeeze bunted so well that Chipper went home. Maybe Kimbrel does not pitch as well in no pressure situations. Should Fredi keep games close so RPs can be tested more? NL East has best record in baseball. Braves are 7-1 interdivisional.
Joe Mather is starting in CF today for the Cubs. Cubs…another reason I’m thankful to be a braves fan.
Okay, AAR, how did you post a table?
Suck it suck it suck it, Tad!
The more time goes by without any indication that the Braves are trying to lock up Heyward and Freeman, the more neurotic I get.
*Twiddles thumbs*
Hey, the Giants had Aubrey Huff playing second just now. That seems fun.
Feeling old. Watching Jerry Royster coach third for the Red Sox.
Chino Cadahia.
Just Google HTML table generator.
Some guy I’ve never heard of just threw a perfect game for the White Sox.
It was against the Mariners, so I’m not sure it counts. The best OBP in the Seattle lineup is Ichiro’s… at .294.
Phillip Humber, former Met.
Wasn’t Humber the big piece in the Yohan Santana trade?
Does Bethany live in Allston?
http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1061125965
I’m pretty sure Ryan didn’t swing at that last pitch.
LOL, who is the poor guy in the Braves Journal fantasy league who dropped Humber THIS MORNING?
@21 I try to keep my appearance below a leer-worthy level to prevent this sort of thing. Kudos to her, I can’t believe no one helped her out. No wait, I can, because this is Boston and everyone here sucks.
Red Sox just blew a 9-0 lead to the Yankees.
Think we have it bad? Bobby V just chose to walk Cano with first base unoccupied (runner on 2nd) when there was 0 out. The next batter? A-rod. He walks. Now there’s bases loaded with 0 out.
I am so enjoying watching the Red Sox train wreck up close.
Bobby V might get sacked tonight.
ANOTHER INTENTIONAL WALK. THIS ONE LOADS THE BASES WITH 0 OUT! Oh my! This is really stupid.
Hahaha. Bobby V is just throwing gas on the fire at this point. But Alfredo Blown-ceves and that Sox ‘pen are an absolute nightmare.
Boston brass: “I think we might have made a mistake firing Francona and Epstein.”
They are talking on the radio about how much longer it will be before Bobby gets axed.
Ok BMac, show them how it’s done.
Wooo! Luck!
Struggla.
YAY CHIPPER!
Could have been better than one run, but then again should probably have been none at all.
I’ll take the run. Freddie, Uggla and Jason all looked like fools up there.
Tad might say CJ should have swung rather than walk.
Anyone mention Cliff Lee to the DL with the dreaded oblique strain?
Hanson telegraphed that breaking ball to Parra by slowing his delivery.
@39 Would that be worse for a pitcher?
I hate watching Hanson pitch.
Hudson’s done it a couple of times IIRC and missed about a month.
Hanson is more like Javy Vazquez than John Smoltz.
Tommy Hanson just keeps his team in the ball game…. Even when they try to run away with it.
Seriously, this is torture.
UGGLA!!!!!
Don on the radio- “The scoreboard is starting to look like a picket fence.” Awesome.
@45. I find that hysterical
Someone come here and tell me a story.
Hanson is trying to nibble at the corners too much. Hanson needs to trust his change up and throw it more.
Great. Here we go again.
@51 a change up off a 90 MPH fastball?
Red Sox were up 9-0 after 5 on the Yanks today. They ended up a 15-9 loser. Gave up 7 runs in the 7th and 8th.
@54. Vicente Padilla is Spanish for gas on fire
#53 – Doesnt matter how fast his fastball is if he could throw his changeup effectively.
@53, Sure. Why not? It’s the difference in speeds that counts.
That’s not to say that Tommy’s not frustrating me tonight, because he is.
He’s definitely frustrating to watch tonight. It sucks watching him when he cant locate the fastball.
Bourne is on fire.
53 — It doesn’t really matter what speed your fastball is at, it’s all in using the same delivery, the movement and the difference in speed.
Heck, Jamie Moyer throws a change-up off his 79mph “heater”.
I’m not a fan of Hanson’s delivery. That ball just hovers at the top of his delivery like the Goodyear blimp making its rounds over the stadium and it just feels like an eternity.
Time to affix Yakety Sax to every Red Sox highlight until further notice. What a trainwreck.
No way, he was safe.
Its tough seeing 88 from Hanson
Third (?) time this young season that Bourn has been called out despite being safe.
Kemp with yet another homer tonight. On a tear doesn’t really cut it anymore.
Third, at least, yeah.
Looks like the Sox want to remind fans of how the last 100 years *really* went.
Kemp has found the new PED. I want some.
——–
Hanson must go. The minute Huddie comes back, Hanson must go.
Piers can’t italicize, either.
So there.
Suddenly Hanson’s retired 7 in a row.
Of course when he pitches well, I’m less of a bitch about his ugly windup.
We need to get two runners on this inning so Fredi pinch hits for Hanson
My excuse is that I’m keeping my posts accessible to the visually impaired who have their computer read posts to them. Colon, hyphen, close parentheses.
@68, It was better when your trolling was more subtle.
5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 HR, 1 BB, 5 K…let’s murderize the bum!
So, I tuned in late and haven’t seen the Dbacks reach base. Aside from the infuriating windup, how did Hanson look early?
@75 He doesn’t have much life on the fastball and struggled with location early.
This is the Brave offense I know.
75 — He struggled through the first 2 innings and has settled down since.
Tommy needs to learn a misdirection move to use mid-windup. Maybe the Braves can hire Teller. Sleight of hand, baby, sleight of hand.
You just took that pitch for a strike. Guess what: still a strike!
10 in a row. Gosh, Hanson sucks.
The Son-Son Boys settin’ the table for Bourn. This is why we chop!
Whenever I watch Hanson pitch, I’m reminded of “Rookie of the Year” and the kid’s windup in that.
Great to see him make it through 6.
The next inning is the one I’m afraid of for Tommy. Let’s put some runs on the board here.
Of all the lefties we’ve run into over the last couple of weeks, I’d have pegged Joe Saunders as about the least likely to shut us down.
Wilson/Hanson/Bourn go down easy. Shoot.
Sure would like more runs.
Anybody got Hanson’s pitch count?
83- One more inning against the bottom of their order. This ought to work. I hope.
86- Ninety-one.
Ninety pitches through 6.
He’s at 93 pitches
Just loaded up Gamecast for the first time tonight and finally found the pitch count. The grayscale color font against black makes some of the type hard to follow.
Nice to see the low and away corner called. (Not sarcasm)
A fine evening’s work by Mr. Hanson.
13 in a row. Time for Ventbrel.
The minute Huddie comes back, Hanson must go.
LOL.
Major kudos to Tommy for turning this into a great start.
104 pitches, 7 innings, only 2 runs. Good game so far.
Let’s hope the recent garbage-time work Fredi gave Venters and Kimbrel pays off, looks like Braves will need them at their best tonight.
Was Chip just surprised that two guys account for 20% of a team’s offense? Did he mean each?
Fredi is getting more innings out of starters and bottom of pen. With so few off days he has to.
Heh, check swing comedy today.
97- Well, it sure doesn’t seem to have done Venters any harm.
Real sharp. Go Jonny go…
MLB GameDay has a nasty factor (yes, really) for pitches, and Jonny’s slider gets a rating of 19 out of 100. I think their algorithm might be broken.
Whew, nasty stuff.
I don’t think Arizona even got a foul ball off Venters.
Vintage Venters.
Wow. When he is on he is lights out. Love venters!
@101-
No doubt! I was actually trying to praise Fredi there, I thought he was wise to get them a little work to keep them sharp.
Venters isn’t rusty.
Man, I’d just send Venters back out for the 9th, too, after that performance.
So when Huddy comes back – Hanson, not JJ, must go? Hanson had his best overall outing of the season and settled down nicely after his rough start.
24IP 20H 23K … He sucks
108- I know. I think nice thoughts about Fredi so rarely that the absence of sarcasm needs to be noted, too.
So, I tuned in just in time to see Bourn “caught stealing”. I haven’t seen a dback reach base yet- let’s keep that up.
D-backs hyperVentilated.
The best part about the Braves’ recent run has been the length the start pitchers have been going the past few games. Really nice to not have to trot out O’Ventbrel 2/3 nights.
What a badass Venters is.
Fredi seems to be getting the most out of his starters so far this year. Im sure they respect that.
Woooooooof, Kimbrel. Dang.
all these attempts at checking their swing is really fun to watch. So filthy.
Wow
FINISH THEM, KIMBREL!
That’s ten swinging strikes to five hitters. And Goldschmidt was the first to touch the ball. Enjoy the Ventbrel show while it lasts.
AWESOME
Lordy, those two guys.
So Ventbrel… dey’s good.
6 straight ks to end it.
Disgusting.
rolling
I love this team right now.
Swee-ee-eet!
POW!
Wow venters/Kimbrel were nasty
So thats what a rested Venters/Kimbrel looks like. No one could do anything against them tonight.
@126
Last 9 batters from both teams struck out.
Awesome. Freakin awesome!
So, I’ll make sure I watch from the off tomorrow so we get a perfect game.
I will be at the game tomorrow, unless something weird happens it’ll be my last chance to see Chipper in person. Gonna be a little bittersweet, I’m hoping the D-backs will recognize that somehow. Chipper’s last AZ appearance that is, not my emotional state…
Oh man, I think DOB said Sunday’s an off day for Chipper…
re: Venters and Kimbrel
I am really glad those two are on my team.
That is all.
@138- Shit. Now tomorrow’s my first chance to see Juan Fransisco play. Not quite the same!
Where is Chief at?
Trying something out here:
Eh, close enough I guess. My apology is forthcoming.
@138
Heard the same thing on the radio broadcast. Worse yet, there’s a post-game flight. It’s only a six-hour drive from Chase Field to Dodger Stadium — can’t someone charter an RV and drive Chipper to L.A. so he can walk around, stretch out, relax and get comfortable without his knee swelling?
Well, if this thread isn’t Braves Journal in miniature….
I want to crush the Diamondbacks today because the Dodgers are going to be tough.
Again, Posey is out. Not hurt, but taken out by runner sliding home and makes a bad throw that allows LOS METS to win. The runner had one leg ting home and did split (is the ballet term) and hit Posey;s leg during throw. Is the interference rule same at home as it is at second?
Here is a snippet from the Globe this morning:
Curious what people here think about the Sox trade for Marlon Byrd.
They gave up Michael Bowden and a “player to be named later” and the Cubs are “paying most of the salary” (which is 6.5 total).
He was somebody I thought the Braves should go after last year before they got Bourne and again this off season.
Who would Bowden compare to in our org?
He’s less than Medlen and Teheran. He seems more than Redmond.
Byrd has been awful since the injury. He may be through – IOW if Bowden is anything more than Redmond, the Sox overpaid.
Bowden is just a fringe reliever. If he had been in our system this spring, the Braves would’ve still gone out and gotten Livan/Durbin.
Recapped.